As different data processing devices, such as mobile stations, become more complex, the significance of device management becomes more pronounced. Devices require several different settings, such as settings related to Internet access points, and setting them manually by the user is arduous and difficult. To solve this problem, for instance, device management solutions have been developed so that the administrator of a company's information system or a teleoperator can set an appropriate configuration for a device Device management generally refers to actions by which a person typically not using a device can change the configuration of the device; for instance change the settings or even a protocol used by the device. In addition to device-specific settings, it is also possible to transmit user-specific data, such as user profiles, logos, ringing tones, and menus with which the user can personally modify the settings of the device, or the modification takes place automatically in connection with device management.
One of the device management standards is OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) DM (Device management), which is partly based on the SyncML (Synchronization Markup Language) protocol. For instance, a personal computer (PC) can act as a device management server in a device management protocol and a mobile station as a device management client. In terms of device management, the device management client, possibly on the basis of a triggering message from the device management server, transmits information concerning itself in a session initiation message to the device management server, and the device management server replies by transmitting its own information and server management command. The device management client replies to this command with status information, after which the server can end the session or transmit more server management commands. If the server transmits more server management commands, the client is to reply to them with status information. The server can always, after receiving status information, end the session or continue it by transmitting more server management commands. Device management can also be implemented by first transmitting queries to the user about what (s)he wishes to update, and information on the user's selections is transmitted to the server. Next, the server can in the next packet transmit the updates/commands the user desires.
The items managed in the device management client are arranged as device management objects. The device management objects are entities that can be managed by server management commands in the device management client. The device management object can for instance be a number or a large entity, such as background image or screensaver. At least some of the device management objects can be standardized; the OMA DM device management standards include three standardized management objects at the moment.
In OMA device management, device management objects are arranged in a management tree, which is illustrated in FIG. 1. The management tree is made up of nodes and defines at least one device management object formed of one or more nodes or at least one parameter of a node. The following examines nodes that form the device management objects. The node can be an individual parameter, a sub-tree or a data collection. For instance, a “Vendor” node is an interior node, because it has child objects, “ScreenSaver” and “RingingTones”. “ScreenSaver” is a leaf node, because it does not have child objects. “RingingTones” is also an interior node, because it has child objects. A node may comprise at least one parameter that may be a configuration value or a file, such as a background image file in the node “ScreenSaver”. The content of the node can also be a link to another node. Each node can be addressed by a uniform resource identifier (URI). URI of a node is formed starting from the root “/”, and when proceeding along the tree, each node has a name that is added to the earlier ones using “/” as the separator. For instance, the node “RingingTones” can be addressed by URI “Nendor/RingingTones/”. The nodes can be fixed or dynamic. The device management client or server can add dynamic nodes to the management tree by device management command “ADD”.
Current device management systems enable manipulation of application and device specific configuration parameters, i.e. configuration management. However, a need exists for more versatile management systems.